Comments on: What Factors Lead to Increased Worm Cocoon Production?

By: Larry D.

Larry D. — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:10:23 +0000

I use a little agricultural lime.And i mean a little.I use about a tablespoon in my whole flowthru.And only in a certain feeding pattern.My bin is layered.On the third layering i will add some.Ag lime is a slow release too.It supposedly can take a whole year to affect soil from what i’ve seen looking around.May be wrong though.And if you use the wrong type or too much lime,you got real problems.So don’t just throw a hand full of lime in there!
Worm tea is a more likely explanation.I’ll try and film my worms next time i dump some spent castings from worm tea back in.They go bonkers over worm tea!I’m fixing to start a spraying experiment later.Probably be the same as Bentley’s aquarium water.But with even more benefit!

By: Bentley

Bentley — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:20:34 +0000

Wow – great thread!
I can certainly vouch for the hardiness of Red Worms – I’ve found them literally embedded in frozen compost. I was digging around in my outdoor beds yesterday and found lots of worms in semi-frozen material. The beds that have warmed up a bit more seem to have lots of active worms.

WORM RUSSLER – I am really surprised that you had better success once you added lime to the manure! I would think that this would increase the pH of the material – this would typically result in even greater ammonia release (deadly for worms). Very interesting! Perhaps the worm tea played a role somehow.

By: James Black

James Black — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:30:48 +0000

During a recent cold snap here in central Texas my worm bins were frozen solid. I thought all my worms would be dead from freezing. When the weather warmed up and the bins thawed out, within a few days the worm population was amazing. The bins were swarming. It seems the cold really stimulated them.

By: Anna

Anna — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 15:50:00 +0000

Iva–Amazing story, I just can’t believe how hardy these guys are!

By: Larry D.

Larry D. — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 10:20:48 +0000

I think corrugated cardboard is a big one.Also it appears if you leave a flooding end in a tub with manure,where some stays extra wet.PE worms at least,it appears grits do the trick.Melons are also a good source.At least for mating.They may take a while to drop cocoons?
I have to retry drying the bedding,then flooding the bins.It appeared it worked.But am not positive.It does make them want to leave what they are in though!
Also during the winter i noticed some fled my mixing tubs.May be from being delirious from the cold? Now that it is warm,i don’t have that problem.Can’t tell if they dropped more cocoons though.
I have to try a bunch of the stuff over again this year.I also just remembered,i forgot to plant my beets for another experiment i have to retry! Good luck B.!

By: Iva

Iva — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 05:33:16 +0000

Anna, I was also blown away at worms’ hardiness with something I did. Back at the end of Sept, 2010, I used a large pot (the kind you’d buy with shrubbery or small tree in it) to put in some mint plants we’d dug up. I hoped to keep them in the house & overwinter them. I read that they do well in sandy soil, so I filled the pot half full with sand, then mixed equal parts vermicompost & sand and maybe a little of our local soil in the pot & planted the mint. Well, the mint died for whatever reason. Not from drying out anyway, because my 2 yr old was constantly flooding the kitchen by watering it! About 3 months after planting the mint, I dug around in the pot and found dozens of worms that had hatched from eggs in the vermicompost. I found all I could and put them in my worm bins. Then that pot sat neglected in my kitchen for another 3 months. Never watered that I know of, because my 2yr old ignored it when he saw that I was. Just a week ago, I dug around in that pot and found several more dozen mature worms. I was floored! What could they possibly find to eat to survive in just sand and old vermicompost?? Unbelievably, the lower levels of the pot were still somewhat moist, especially the edges touching the pot itself.

By: synelg

synelg — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 02:50:21 +0000

Really exciting Bentley. If I can help with any experiments, let me know. I have unlimited horse manure (no bedding), hay and access to UCG. I have a room kept at ~20C that I’m using to try to increase my 1kg of EF to 100kg to cope with my horse’s manure. Good Luck!

By: Anna

Anna — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 20:58:52 +0000

I would vote Barry White over Marvin Gay.

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 14:53:16 +0000

I tried lighting a few candles and put some Marvin Gaye on the Hi-Fi. 🙂

By: Worm Russler

Worm Russler — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 14:07:54 +0000

One time I acquired a five gallon of wet rabbit manure from a feed store that sold rabbits. After rinsing it, I added a handfull of worms. The worms died. I then added lime and a little worm tea. Added another handfull of worm and wholla they survived. So I then put in about a half pound of worm. Within a few months that bin was teaming with worms.